How do we plan our Annual Projects and Processes?

How do we plan our Annual Projects and Processes?

The planning of the annual Projects and Processes is a long reflection that starts in August – right at the beginning of the term of the new Executive Board.

The new Executive Board starts the activities right away, but they already need to start preparing everything for the year to come. It is important to clarify that each Executive Board executes half of the Annual Plan that the previous Executive Board developed and half of the Annual Plan they created, leaving the next Executive Board with half of it to execute. This gives the opportunity for the new ones to start the term already with tasks and goals until the end of the year, allowing them to have time to settle in with the positions they have been assigned.

Before starting to talk about the Annual Plan (the document that gathers all the Projects and Processes to be developed throughout the year), some definitions may need to be clarified. For JADE, there is a difference between Projects and Processes.

A Process is part of the organizational basis – it is an activity that happens every year in a specific department and contributes to the regular activities of JADE.

A Project is a new process or an activity that aims to bring a different value to the organisation. There are 2 possibilities: either the Project is something to be done once, and we do not need to repeat it anymore, or in the timeframe of 1 year it becomes a Process.

From strategy to action

The reflection about the Annual Plan starts with a document that clarifies the path that the European Junior Enterprise Network and JADE will take in the next 3 years – the Network Strategy.

A strategy needs to not only have a vision, goals and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), but also a detailed action plan to achieve all the goals and results expected. In JADE, it is not different – alongside with the document of the Network Strategy (which explains all the fundamentals of the Strategy for our Network), we have a document with all the Projects to be developed in the next 3 years, specifying in which year they are supposed to start, responsibilities and KPIs. This way, all the Executive Boards have clearly defined what Projects they need to develop in their year.

It is extremely important to notice that a strategy needs to be reviewed every year, in order to adapt to the changing environment that surrounds it. That is why tools like the Junior Enterprise Network Observatory are so crucial – they help JADE Team to understand the environment of the Junior Enterprise Network and the opinions of the Junior Entrepreneurs about issues like Recognition of the Network, Integration and Development.

This way, some Projects might change, some might be added or delayed, depending on the cases. It all depends on how the implementation of the strategy itself is going.

Step 1

As a first step, the Executive Boards starts to collect all the information in an excel file structured in many sheets.

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A cover-sheet with the names of the Executive Board members that developed the Annual Plan

A.1 Strategic insights

It is the sheet where we gather the main information of the Network Strategy – the Vision, the Mission, the Strategic Roadmap and the main KPIs.

A.2 Projects overview

A sheet with all the Projects to be developed throughout the semester, with starting and ending dates, departments, responsibilities and priorities for each one of them.

A.3 Processes overview

An overview of all the Processes that are already part of the organisational basis of JADE, including, as well as for Projects, the starting and ending dates, departments, responsibilities and priorities of each one of them.

B.1 Operational Plan

The Operational Plan is a more detailed Annual Plan (mainly used by the Executive Board, separated from the other sheets that are more oriented for the General Assembly), that defines all the steps to conclude the Projects and Processes, and goes more in-depth with responsibilities – if we recruit Managers to support us with specific tasks, detailed Operational Performance Indicators (OPIs), documents used, and other types of information.

B.2 Calendar

The Calendar is mainly for the Confederations and Consultative Members. There it is specified, among others, the exchange of information, participation to events, communication of JADE opportunities that we have with the General Assembly.

Step 2

With the creation of this document, we have a first draft of the Annual Plan. After this, we start the collection of inputs from different stakeholders.

The first presentation of the Projects proposed for the Annual Plan is during National Board Summit – a weekend (at the end of August) for the training and team building of the International Managers and other members of the Boards of our Confederations and Consultative Members. This way, a first insight of the goals the Executive Board is aiming to achieve in the next year is given.

Step 3

After the collecting inputs during National Board Summit, there is another event where the Executive Board of JADE gets to gather opinions – JADUS Meeting. JADUS are a particular group of Alumni of the Network, they are the people that were part of JADE Executive Board in previous years and previous Senior Project Managers of the structure.

This event (taking place every year in October) has, as the main goal, the collection of inputs from the JADUS on many different topics, such as the Annual Plan. Thus, we guarantee to have our activities reviewed by a more mature and experienced point of view, such as the one of those who have already been part of the structure.

Step 4

This step focuses on approving the Annual Plan in the General Assembly. At this point, JADE Executive Board already has the final version of the Annual Plan (after all the inputs and reflections) and sends it to the Confederations and Consultative Members. During JADE Autumn Conference, the General Assembly meets to discuss, apart from the other topics, the Annual Plan and approve it.

Final step

Finally, the final step is to implement. From January 1st, the Executive Board of JADE is ready to start implementing all the Projects and Processes proposed and approved in their Annual Plan, making it their responsibility to guarantee everything goes according to plan.

Every month, the Executive Board has a Strategic Meeting where the whole Annual Plan is reviewed, so that everyone can see the status of every Project and Process.

If you have any doubts or would like to know more about how JADE works regarding Strategy and Planning, do not hesitate to contact us via [email protected]!

JADE is an umbrella organization that represents more than 28,000 students coming from 330 student-run businesses, also known as Junior Enterprises, located in 250 universities from 15 European countries. A cumulative turnover of 15M€ per year, coming from over 4,200 consulting projects, showcases the proactivity of the network that benefits students, universities, SMEs and other stakeholders, thus leaving a significant impact on the local and international business world. Following the motto "learning-by-doing", our network bridges the gap between academia and the business environment.